342The repository of everything after destruction, and the seed of creation.
343I provide heat as the sun and attract water up in the sky as clouds. The Sanskrit uses the words sat and asat and we have translated these as eternal and the transient, meaning the indestructible brahman and the transient universe. However, sat can also be translated as unmanifest nature and asat as its manifest counterpart. Indeed, in some Upanishads, sat is taken to mean what can be seen, that is, the universe and asat is taken to mean what cannot be seen, that is, the brahman. This will then be exactly the opposite of what we have translated. However, our translation is in conformity with usage elsewhere in the Gita.
344The three Vedas—the Rig Veda, the Sama Veda and the Yajur Veda. The Atharva Veda came later.
345Here, heaven can also be translated as the abode of Indra.
346The three Vedas again.
347What is yet to be attained is yoga and what has been attained is kshema.
348To rebirth on earth.
349Pitris or manes.
350Alternatively, the spirits. The worshippers of yakshas or rakshas are examples.
351My worshippers.
352As has been said earlier, sannyasa doesn’t mean asceticism and the abjuring of action. It means detachment and offering all action and its fruit to the paramatman.
353The most evil of persons.
354The idea is that the shastras are prohibited to women, vaishyas and shudras. But bhakti yoga is available to everyone. Those of evil birth means people whose evil actions in earlier lives have led to their present lowly stations. The construction doesn’t suggest ‘those who are of evil birth’ as an adjective for women, vaishyas or shudras. Instead, a separate category seems to be meant, perhaps those who were outside the fourfold caste system.
355That they will attain supreme liberation.
356This shloka causes a translation problem because the sentence is incomplete. Having attained what? One possibility is—having attained the status of pure brahmanas and royal sages. Another possibility is to link it to the clause about the earth being temporary and the source of unhappiness. Hence, having attained a status that is permanent and the source of happiness and so on. Either way, the translation, or the interpretation, doesn’t seem very convincing.
357This is a continuation of the topics covered in the immediately preceding chapters. The nature of the paramatman is described. Thereafter, there is a listing
358The word prabhava can also be translated as strength, instead of origin.
359Alternatively, on earth.
360Equality across all beings and across all sentiments.
361There are two listings of the seven great sages (saptarshis), with a large degree of overlap. The first list is Marichi, Angirasa, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu and Vashishtha. The second list is Bhrigu, Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulaha, Pulastya and Kratu.
362Who are the four who came before the seven great sages? This causes problems of interpretation. Usually, commentators take this to mean the four great sages Sanaka, Sananda, Sanatana and Sanatkumara, who preceded the saptarshis. However, these sages never married and talk of their descendants doesn’t quite make sense. Therefore, this is sometimes interpreted in a metaphorical sense. That is, these four are the four manifestations (murti or vyuha) of Vasudeva— Vasudeva as the soul, Sankarshana as a living being, Pradyumna as the mind and Aniruddha as the ego.
363As was mentioned earlier, there are fourteen Manus in a kalpa. The list of names varies. But the most common list of the present fourteen Manus is Svayambhuva, Svarochisha, Uttama, Tamasa, Raivata, Chakshusha, Vaivasvata or Satyavrata, Savarni, Dakshasavarni, Brahmasavarni, Dharmasavarni, Rudrasavarni, Devasavarni and Indrasavarni. The present Manu is Vaivasvata.
364The word yoga is twice used in this shloka, with different senses. We have translated vibhuti as divine, but it can also be translated in the sense of might or of the paramatman’s vibhuti (divinity or strength), strength. Given the use of the word vibhuti, yoga (the first usage) simply means divine power and glory.
365Now yoga means union with the paramatman and the required meditation and self-realization.
366About me.
367The subject is actually suppressed.
368Narada is a divine sage (devarshi). He was created mentally (rather than physically) by Brahma.
369Many translations translate Asita and Devala as separate sages. That’s not true. The same sage, who lived on the banks of the Sarasvati River, is sometimes called Asita, sometimes Devala and sometimes Asita-Devala.
370Vyasa means Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva. He is the collator of the four Vedas, hence the title of Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva. However, in the task of collating and dividing the Vedas, Vedavyasa or Vyasadeva is a title and there has been more than one Vedavyasa. Twenty-eight to be precise. Alternatively, the same Vedavyasa was reborn twenty-eight times. This particular Vedavyasa is the son of the sage Parashara, his mother’s name being Satyavati. His actual name is Krishna Dvaipayana, Krishna because he was dark and Dvaipayana because he was born on an island. Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa also authored the Mahabharata and the Puranas.
371If the gods and the demons do not know, an ordinary mortal is hardly expected to do so.
372So the telling will be selective.
373The three stages of creation, preservation and destruction.
374The word aditya means born of Aditi and can refer to all gods in general. However, in this context, it means the twelve manifestations of the sun. These are Dhata, Mitra, Aryama, Rudra, Varuna, Surya, Bhaga, Vivasvan, Pusha, Savita, Tvasta and Vishnu. According to some accounts, one of these shines in each month.
375The maruts are gods of the wind. The number of the maruts varies from place to place, but in most cases, it is forty-nine.
376Nakshatra can also be translated as constellation.
377This is slightly strange, because the Rig Veda is usually regarded as chief among the Vedas. The Sama Veda has hymns that are sung. So perhaps the rationale is that in bhakti yoga, or the path of devotion, songs have greater appeal than mantras that are merely recited.
378As a god, Rudra is both one and many. As a single god, Rudra occurs in the Vedas and in the Upanishads. However, there are also descriptions of eleven rudras—Aja, Ekapada, Ahivradhna, Virupaksha, Sureshvara, Jayanta, Bahurupa, Tryambaka, Aparajita, Vivasvata and Haya. Sometimes, one has Raivata, Savitra, Pinaki and Ajaikapada replacing Aja, Ekapada, Aparajita and Vivasvata in the list. However, in no list of the eleven rudras does Shankara figure as a name. So this probably means Shankara as the lord of the rudras, rather than the chief one in a list.
379Accounts of creation differ. According to one account, Brahma created some creatures in the night. At that time, Brahma was hungry and the resultant creatures also turned out to be hungry. Some tried to eat Brahma and these became the yakshas. Others tried to prevent these devourers and these came to be known as the rakshas. According to other accounts, Brahma created water and then created beings. Some of these wanted to worship and these came to be known as yakshas. Others wanted to protect the water and came to be known as rakshas. The Sanskrit doesn’t use the word Kubera. The Sanskrit expression is literally translated as lord of wealth, which of course, is Kubera. Kubera is also the lord of the yakshas, though not quite of the rakshas.
380The word used for fire is pavaka. The fire god is Agni and his companions are the vasus, who are eight in number—Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhara, Anila, Anala, Pratyusha and Prabhasa. Sometimes, Dyu is mentioned instead of Apa.
381A mountain at the centre of the earth.
382The concept of Brihaspati has evolved over time. Beyond a point, Brihaspati became the priest and the preceptor of the gods.
383That is, Kartikeya, the general of the gods.
384One of the seven great sages. According to one account, Bhrigu kicked Vishnu and thereby left his footprint on Vishnu’s chest.
385Om.
386There are different kinds of yajnas and the Git
a has already mentioned them. Yajnas are usually associated with ritualistic sacrifices and the Gita has already said that these are inferior to yajnas that involve karma yoga and bhakti yoga. There is thus a broader interpretation of the word yajna. The word japa means uttering prayers in an undertone and continuously. Hence, japa yajna means invoking Krishna’s name (nama) and is thus also called nama yajna.
387Ashvattha, a holy tree.
388Gandharvas are a semi-divine species and they were celestial singers and musicians. Chitraratha is the king of the gandharvas.
389The great sage Kapila, son of Kardama and Devahuti and proponent of sankhya philosophy.
390The immortal nectar is amrita and the gods and the demons collectively churned the ocean to raise amrita. Together with the amrita, the horse Ucchaishrava and the elephant Airavata arose from the ocean and were accepted by Indra.
391Indra’s thunderbolt.
392The cow that yields all objects of desire, sometimes known as Surabhi. The word used in the shloka is actually kamadhuk, which means a granter of wishes.
393Kandarpa is the god of love, also known as Kama or Madana. The suggestion probably is that desire for procreation is superior to desire for desire’s sake alone.
394We have translated the sarpa of shloka 28 as serpent and the naga of shloka 29 as snake. This is unsatisfactory. Ananta is the king of nagas and Vasuki is the king of sarpas. What is the difference between sarpas and nagas? Some people translate sarpa as a poisonous snake and naga as a non-poisonous snake. But that’s not quite true. Both Ananta and Vasuki are the sons of Kadru and are brothers. However, here, they are quite clearly mentioned as distinct species. Sarpas and nagas seem to be differentiated in two ways. First, unlike sarpas, nagas can assume human form. Second, unlike sarpas, nagas have separate geographical areas of habitation. Sarpas live on earth.
395The lord of the ocean.
396Aryama is a manifestation of the sun and is the ruler of the pitris, ancestors or manes.
397Those who control the fruits of righteous and evil conduct.
398We have translated daityas as demons. Daityas are a specific category of demons, the progeny of Diti. Although born into this clan, Prahlada, the son of Hiranyakashipu, was a devotee of Vishnu’s. Eventually, Prahlada became the king of the daityas.
399There is a slight problem of translation, because the word kalayatam can mean those things that overcome us or those things that devour us.
400Actually, the Sanskrit text doesn’t use the expression lion. Instead, it uses the expression king of animals.
401The son of Vinata is Garuda, king of the birds.
402The word used is makara and a makara is not quite a crocodile. It is part mythical and is sometimes also translated as a crocodile.
403The river Ganga. Ganga is also known as Jahnavi because she was the daughter of the king Jahnu.
404There are three kinds of arguments used in debating. Jalpa represents arguments to establish one’s own point of view. Vitanda represents arguments advanced to neutralize the opponent’s point of view. Vada is delinked from the objective of winning and is simply an impartial and objective attempt to deduce the truth.
405Samasa is part of grammar and the samasa rules are used for compounding words. Dvanda is one type of rule.
406Type of mantra where the lord is worshipped as the lord of everything.
407The month of Agrahayana. The month of Agrahayana or Margashirsha is the foremost month because at that time, this used to be the first month of the year.
408A collection of flowers, that is, spring.
409Gambling representing the best form of cheating.
410Ushanasa is another name for Shukracharya, son of Bhrigu, and preceptor of the demons. Shukracharya is also a writer on the law. The word kavi doesn’t mean a poet. It means someone who is wise, a seer.
411Those who ruled had four methods or stratagems—danda (punishment), sama (appeasement), dana (bribery) and bheda (sowing dissension).
412This chapter is about the vision of the universal form.
413The twelve adityas, eight vasus, the eleven rudras and the forty-nine maruts mentioned earlier. The two ashvinis are physicians of the gods, named thus because their mother (Samjna) was then (at the time of conception) in the form of a mare (ashva). Their names are actually Ashvini and Revanta.
414With ordinary eyes.
415There is a minor contradiction in what Arjuna has said. No one other than Arjuna has seen, or can see, this universal form.
416The saddhyas are gods, twelve or thirteen in number.
417The vishvadevas is a collective word for gods and divine energy taken together, originally believed to be thirty-three in number (eleven on earth, eleven in the sky and eleven in heaven). This later became 330 million.
418These are the pitris, ancestors or manes, to whom warm food is served.
419The siddhas are a semi-divine species, inhabiting the area between the sun and the earth and 88,000 in number.
420As was mentioned earlier, sutas were charioteers and raconteurs. Although born into a royal family, Karna was raised by a suta and was therefore known as the son of a suta.
421Or having swallowed all the people. The word loka can be translated in either way.
422The word kala can also be translated as time. But kala also means destroyer or fate or Yama. In this context, destroyer seems to be a better translation. Similarly, loka has been translated as people, but also means world.
423That is, even if Arjuna does not fight.
424Arjuna was also known as Kiriti. Kiriti means someone who wears a crown and Arjuna was so named because he received a crown from Indra.
425The brahman or the paramatman.
426The god of the wind.
427The god of death.
428The god of fire.
429The god of the ocean.
430The moon or the moon god.
431Meaning, in this context, Brahma. The word prajapati literally means lord or creator of beings. Brahma mentally created ten sages who later created other beings. These ten sages, who were also known as prajapatis, were Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Vasishtha, Daksha, Bhrigu and Narada. Other beings were descended from them and Brahma is therefore the grandfather (pitamaha). Since the word prajapati is used in the shloka in the singular rather than the plural, it clearly means Brahma.
432If Brahma is the grandfather (pitamaha), great-grandfather (prapitamaha) is Brahma’s creator, that is, the brahman or the paramatman.
433The universal form.
434Krishna, meaning the one without decay.
435This sentence sounds incomplete in the English rendering. Like a father, a friend or a beloved forgives, the son’s, friend’s or lover’s errors or transgressions, forgive mine.
436If chakra has to be translated, it can only be translated as disc or discus. The chakra is Vishnu and Krishna’s weapon.
437This requires explanation. Krishna has two arms, but Vishnu has four. The explanation therefore is that Arjuna knew Krishna to be a manifestation of Vishnu. Alternatively, Krishna could have adopted Vishnu’s form temporarily.
438This concludes the bhakti yoga segment. The issue is simple. Is it better to worship the nirguna form of the paramatman or the saguna form? The former is the path of knowledge (jnana) and the latter is the path of devotion (bhakti). For most people, the latter is easier.
439The brahman or the paramatman.
440Paraphrased, is bhakti yoga superior or is jnana yoga superior? The word yogi is being used for someone who achieves union with God.
441The word kutastha can be translated in various ways. We have translated it in the sense of being the original cause of everything. But it can also mean unchanging or the refuge of this illusory world. There can even be a metaphorical interpretation of being immovable like the peak of a mountain.
442And therefore possess a sense of the individual self and the individual ego.
443That is, the path of jnana y
oga is difficult. The path of bhakti yoga is easier.
444In some interpretations, there is an emphasis on the ‘alone’ clause, arguing that this is superior to establishing one’s mind on the brahman and therefore, this shloka demonstrates the superiority of bhakti yoga to jnana yoga. This interpretation seems to be both contrived and unnecessary.
445After death.
446Practise yoga, with practise used as a verb, makes for better English. But a literally more accurate translation is, through the yoga of practice. The word yoga is used in many different senses in the Gita. Later shlokas suggest that the yoga of practice means pranayama.
447This is not the same as performing action without attachment. That comes in the next shloka. Here, deeds mean rites or acts associated with bhakti yoga, such as listening to or singing devotional songs, ceremonies of worship and the like.
448That is, karma yoga, where action and fruits of all action are offered up to the brahman.
449Historically, this shloka has caused several problems of interpretation. By practice, one means the practice of yoga, or pranayama. Since this can be purely mechanical, knowledge (jnana) must be superior to this. But in what sense is dhyana (meditation) superior to knowledge? The answer certainly lies in the distinction drawn between jnana (knowledge) and vijnana (self-realization). Jnana is knowledge learnt from one’s teachers or from the sacred texts. Vijnana is a special type of jnana and is knowledge picked up through introspection, meditation and self-realization. So the knowledge of this shloka is specific knowledge picked up from elsewhere and is not knowledge in a general sense. And vijnana or knowledge through meditation and self-realization is superior to jnana. Most historical commentators preferred renunciation of action to karma yoga. The preference was for sannyasa. Therefore, there were problems in interpreting the superiority of action to meditation. And by linking up this shloka with the preceding one, it was argued that karma yoga was for those who couldn’t perform meditation and follow the path of jnana, jnana being interpreted generally, rather than in the specific sense of knowledge picked up from teachers or sacred texts.
Mahabharata: Vol. 5 Page 64